Con­tro­ver­sial Ro­driguez goal denies Villa win at West Brom

LON­DON: A dis­puted stop­page­time equaliser by Jay Ro­driguez sal­vaged a point for West Brom in a 2-2 draw at home to lo­cal ri­vals As­ton Villa in the Cham­pi­onship on Fri­day.

Once-capped Eng­land in­ter­na­tional Ro­driguez bun­dled home a 91st-minute cross as the ball twice ap­peared to strike his hand be­fore trick­ling over the goalline at The Hawthorns.

An­war El Ghazi had twice given Villa the lead in the West Mid­lands derby, his sec­ond goal a mag­nif­i­cent swerv­ing 25-yard drive that put the vis­i­tors back on top af­ter Dwight Gayle lev­elled for West Brom.

But Dean Smith’s in-form side were de­nied a fifth win in six out­ings as Ro­driguez’s late ef­fort was al­lowed to stand de­spite fu­ri­ous protests from Villa play­ers.

“We prob­a­bly should have put the game to bed with the chances that we’ve had,” Smith told Sky Sports.

“But they’ve scored a goal that should not have been dis­al­lowed. - AFP